Spotlight Interview with Dante Silva and Vanessa Mozes

About the Book

Aubriel has always admired the paladin Elston, but when it comes time for him to choose between her and the treasure she unwittingly leads him to, he chooses the treasure. Elston’s betrayal puts Aubriel in the path of a powerful fey lord whose invasion of her dreams assures Aubriel that he has plans for her. But she refuses to be used again. Unable to return home with the possibility of facing Elston there, Aubriel follows Lord Callannon Thray to a realm of great magic and even greater danger. When Callannon arrives to defend his treasure, he’s surprised to find a beautiful elven woman already defending it for him. Aubriel is everything he’s wanted but failed to find in a fey woman-but there’s one problem: she’s mortal. When she agrees to go with him to the fey realm, Callannon has no choice but to hide her mortality to protect her from those who would use her against him. The captain of the king’s guard is one such person, and she won’t rest until she sees Callannon stripped of everything he has.

Interview

Can you tell us a little about yourself and your background?

Individually, we’ve both been enamored with fantasy since we were young and have kept it in our lives through varies means: books, movies, tabletop games, and more. We both have a passion for stories, regardless of medium, and have enjoyed too many to count over the years. We each discovered that we have the urge to create stories as well as enjoy them.

As a husband and wife, we found ourselves drawn to romance the more we focused on and built our relationship together. We began creating fantasy together, and romance naturally budded from it. Rather than trying to remove the romance to focus on the fantasy, we embraced the romance, and our writing is the better for it.

What inspired you to write?

We find inspiration from many places: our relationships, personal experiences, other stories, etc. It’s handy to be coauthors because we can always inspire and encourage each other when one of us gets stuck in the writing process. Writing is our creative outlet, and knowing that we did something we’ve each always wanted to do and that we can share it makes us want to do it all over again!

What inspired your novel?

At first, we just talked with each other about the kind of story we’d like to read. At the time, we didn’t know of many books that focused on developing a relationship past the falling in love stage for a significant amount of time. This led to many conversations that eventually transformed from a simple story line to characters and twists and turns. We just kept building on our conversations until we were happy with the result.

What is the genre?

Exchanged is a fantasy romance that dabbles in erotica.

What draws you to this genre?

We’ve both always loved fantasy, and the combination of fantasy and romance is the area that our interests intersect. We both love writing, and this common ground allows us to write together.

How did you develop your plot and your characters?

Once we went from just talking about the story to committing to write it down, we used something called the snowflake method. This method helped us get out the basics on paper (so to speak) and build on them until we had a comprehensive story with detailed character outlines. By prepping Exchanged in this way, it helped to keep us both on the same page (literally and figuratively).

What inspired your protagonist?

Aubriel and Callannon were inspired by our desire to see relatable characters who change and grow over time. Some of our hopes and desires, such as seeing people grow together in a healthy way despite adversity are reflected in them.

What inspired your antagonist?

The hardships we dealt with at the time we created the story. Whether new or old, we used difficulties that were on our mind in part of the creation process. The antagonists took shape and evolved the further into the story we planned, but their roots came from our experiences.

What was the hardest part to write in the book?

The beginning of the ballroom scene. It became easier the further we got into rewrites, but we tore that poor scene entrance apart and put it back together more than a few times.

What was your favourite part of your book to write?

Vanessa: For me, I loved writing from the character POVs that didn’t show up as often. It was fun to get in their heads and show the story from their perspective.

Dante: The best parts for me were the character interactions, particularly those with Oberon and seeing Callannon and Aubriel develop together over the course of the story.

Are you a full time or a part time writer? If part time, what do you do besides write?

Part time, although we’d love to be full time. Dante technically is a full time writer, but his day job requires writing of a more technical nature. Vanessa is currently working at a library and loving every moment of it.

What are you currently reading?

We’re on the second book in The Bridei Chronicles, Blade of Fortriu. Vanessa has also been working her way through the Tairen Soul series. There are so many good books out there and not enough time!

Who would you say are your favourite authors?

For Vanessa, Jennifer Fallon is a long-time favorite and Grace Draven is a newer favorite. Dante also enjoys both of Vanessa’s authors, but also has a soft spot for Douglas Adams.

How about your favourite books? What would be your top 5?

That’s tough! We’re going to cheat a little by including a few series.

1. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien

2. The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen

3. The Demon Child Trilogy by Jennifer Fallon

4. Wraith Kings series by Grace Draven

5. Magic: The Gathering (Artifacts Cycle through Invasion Cycle) was a childhood indulgence for Dante

Extra credit: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

What are your future projects, if any?

We have a short story and another book that we’re working on currently. Both are fantasy romance, although the book dips a bit into the adventure pool as well. We’re looking to release the short story over the summer and the book by January 2018.

What is your preferred method for readers to get in touch with you and your books?

Our website is the best place to get to know us and receive news about projects, and it’s the easiest place to find information on our books. Facebook and Twitter are close seconds. Both Dante and Vanessa are active on Goodreads as well.

Share this:

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

Published by Leticia (Shh, I Am Reading)

I'm a 30 year old avid reader with a giant love and lust for books, especially science fiction, fantasy, young adult, horror and the occasional romance or drama novel. I live in Ontario, Canada and spend my free time indulging in good books or video games.
View all posts by Leticia (Shh, I Am Reading)